Latest Volleyball Posts

There have been a number of good reads in the media recently on Husky volleyball. Here is a rundown of UW features:

Terry Wood of the Times previews the upcoming weekend series with the Arizona schools and talks about how what once looked like a potential "breather" weekend now looks like a "two-night slugfest". Read the weekend preview here.

Junior Bianca Rowland was named the Everett Herald's Athlete of the Week after UW's win over Washington State. Herald write Scott Johnson got Rowland on the phone for an off the cuff interview where she reveals her newest celebrity crush.

Finally, senior setter Jenna Hagglund is the subject of this feature on the Pac-10's website. The story rounds up thoughts from coaches McLaughlin and Gabriel as well as Hagglund's mother, Susan, as to what has made the Ohio native so successfun on the court as well as in the classroom. Click here to read the profile.

Chaos reigned in the AVCA Top-10 volleyball rankings this past Saturday, after the Huskies had already finished up for the week after a 3-0 win over Washington State Friday night. Saturday saw five of the top-10 teams go down, including No. 1 Stanford and No. 7 Cal each suffering its first losses of the year to assure that no teams will go undefeated this season.

The rough and tumble Pac-10 was given another shake as Stanford fell at UCLA, and Cal lost at USC, both by 3-2 counts. Fourth-ranked Penn State suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since 2002, and dropped to ninth this week. No. 6 Illinois also fell on the road at No. 18 Michigan, and 10th-ranked Iowa State lost on the road at Kansas.

When the smoke cleared this week, Washington moved back up to No. 7 in the AVCA poll, matching its season-high, though UW still sits fourth among Pac-10 teams. Stanford slipped to No. 2, and Florida moved into the No. 1 spot for the first time. Still, there is not much of a consensus, as five different teams are now earning first-place votes, including the Huskies, who picked up one first-place vote.

The Huskies will face Stanford and Cal this Friday and Saturday in the Bay Area.

In this week's edition of the college volleyball notebook on ESPN.com, Dave Reed singled on Washington's efforts from last weekend for Team of the Week status. Here is his summation:

Team of the week: Washington showed that it would be a force to be reckoned with in the Pac-10 by posting home-court victories over then-No. 5 USC in five sets and a sweep of No. 12 UCLA. The Huskies bounced back from a four-set loss at Oregon on the opening weekend of conference play to defeat the Trojans, but it certainly wasn't easy. UW won the first two sets, but the Women of Troy dominated the next two to square the match. When it looked like USC had the momentum, Washington used its defense to take control early in the fifth set and put the match away. The following night, the Huskies defeated UCLA for the eighth consecutive time to improve to 14-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play.

Terry Wood of the Seattle Times examines the upcoming matches for the 7th-ranked Husky volleyball squad in today's edition.

As usual, the Pac-10 dominates the upper echelon of the national rankings, with six teams ranked in the Top-15, and four in the Top-10. Head Coach Jim McLaughlin has seen some encouraging signs with the offense, dictated by senior setter Jenna Hagglund.

"We're passing the ball much better, and our quick hitting has improved," McLaughlin said. "Jenna is really doing a good job keeping our hitters in rhythm. I'm happier with our offense than I have been in last couple of years."

There is also a note on senior Becky Perry, who is back playing well after missing a week to deal with a family tragedy. Perry's personal make-up through this incredibly challenging time earns high praise from her coach.

With a 3-0 record at last weekend's Pittsburgh Blue & Gold Invite, the Husky volleyball squad saw its first real gains of the season in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-25, moving up two spots to seventh. That is a new season high for the 11-0 Dawgs.

Washington moved ahead of Illinois and Texas, both of which suffered losses this past weekend. Stanford remains No. 1, nearly unanimous, with a 9-0 record. The upcoming Pac-10 season is loaded with intrigue as usual, as five of the six undefeated teams in the AVCA Top-25 call the Pac-10 home. Stanford, No. 6 USC, No. 8 California, and No. 15 Oregon are all unblemished through non-conference action.

Opening weekend of Pac-10 play will feature the Huskies and Cougars traveling to the Oregon schools, the Bay Area schools visiting the Arizona schools, and UCLA on the road at USC.

For the first time since 2007, there's a new No. 1-ranked team in women's volleyball. Stanford shook up the volleyball world this weekend by sweeping Penn State, the three-time defending NCAA Champions, in a tournament in Florida. That pushed the previously second-ranked Cardinal into the top spot, though puzzlingly Penn State still received two first place votes and Stanford the remaining 58.

The Huskies remain ninth in the poll after adding three more wins to their total last weekend in Athens, Georgia. Washington will meet Stanford for the first time this year on October 15 down in Palo Alto. Last season, Stanford beat UW, 3-2, in Palo Alto but the Huskies got revenge with a 3-0 sweep in Seattle. Whatever the rankings may say, it's bound to be an exciting match but there are a number of critical matches still between now and then.

As the Husky volleyball season opener creeps closer, sophomore Kylin Munoz is probably counting down the minutes somewhere, waiting to make her collegiate debut this evening when UW hosts Mercer at 7 p.m.

Munoz was forced to sit out the 2009 season, and was unable to travel on road trips or do much besides practice, after coming to UW after originally signing with BYU. Scott Johnson of The Everett Herald previewed the Husky season today, focusin on Munoz and fellow Snohomish County resident Bianca Rowland.

"I learned lots of patience," Munoz said of sitting out last season. "Anything that's worth anything is worth waiting for."

Today is the first day of practice for the Husky volleyball squad. The team reported to campus on Sunday, and took a wide range of photos before going through compliance meetings and ending with a team banquet at the Metropolitan Grill.

The mood was upbeat as one might expect and the ladies were clearly excited to be back together again, along with new faces Stephanie Stoll, Anna Cesari, and Gabbi Parker. To the right a group of Huskies patiently wait their turn in front of the camera.

First up were head shots, with Jenna Hagglund serving as the designated hair-checker, making sure everything was in order. The women then posed for full-body shots for use on program shells, autograph cards and the website. Finally some of the individual classes and position groups jumped in to take some group shots before heading outdoors.

The team posed near the Husky statue in front of Hec Edmundson Pavilion for some team photos. Seahawks fans passed by heading to the team's practice at Husky Stadium and stopped to take their own photos. The shoot ended with a few "jump shots" as you can see here.

With the photos out of the way it's down to business this morning, as the Huskies will hit the Hec Ed courts for the first time with a serve-pass session this a.m. followed by the first full team practice this afternoon around 3:30 p.m.

UW All-Americans Courtney Thompson and Tamari Miyashiro went straight from helping Team USA to the silver medal in Montreux, Switzerland last week down to Tijuana, Mexico for the Pan America Cup.

Team USA is in the midst of pool play and is 4-0 with one pool match remaining tonight. The tourney serves as qualification for the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix.

After not seeing much action during the first three matches, both Miyashiro and Thompson were instrumental in leading UW to a lopsided sweep over Costa Rica on Monday. Miyashiro started at libero for the first time in her international career. She posted seven digs and Team USA led Costa Rica in total digs, 28-11.

Thompson came off the bench in the second set and then started at setter in the third set, when UW ran away with a 25-2 set win. Thompson started at the service line for Team USA in the third set and led them on a 14-point run with two aces tossed in.

The USA Volleyball site is the best way to keep up to date with Thompson and Miyashiro's national team exploits.

Friday marked the end of spring practice for the Husky volleyball squad, but UW's coaching staff put in quite a long day Friday before getting around to that final practice. Washington welcomed in more than a hundred local volleyball coaches for their annual coaches clinic. All level of coaches were welcome from area middle school and high school coaches and including even some local college coaches.

The day involved some lectures for the group, followed by a number of drills on the main Hec-Ed floor, which was split into four courts. Finally the coaches were invited to take in the final Husky spring practice. The clinic provides a great opportunity for head coach Jim McLaughlin to pass on some of the basics in coaching that can raise the level of volleyball in the area as a whole.

In the photo on the right, McLaughlin demonstrates some passing techniques, while the next photo shows the organized chaos of dozens of local coaches running through some drills that they will likely be soon putting their respective teams through.

USA Volleyball has released its preliminary roster for the 2010 Montreux VolleyMasters event to be held June 8-13 in Montreux, Switzerland and the early roster is loaded with Huskies including head coach Jim McLaughlin who will be making the trip and serving as team manager.

The preliminary roster includes 19 players, from which 12 or 14 will be selected. Former Huskies Jill Collymore, Tamari Miyashiro, and Courtney Thompson are all on the initial list which also includes four 2008 U.S. Olympians. Head national coach Hugh McCutcheon will coach the group in Switzerland. USA opens the tournament against Japan on June 8, followed by pool matches against Germany on June 9 and Russia on June 11.

Final roster decisions most likely will not be known until shortly before the tournament begins. Players that don't wind up making the trip to Montreux could also be considered for the Pan American Cup in Mexico which begins June 16.

If you have been in Hec Edmundson Pavilion over the last week or so, you've noticed a little renovation going on. The playing floor is undergoing its annual refinishing process.

Every spring contractors are hired by UW athletics to come in and sand, repair, repaint and refinish (say that three times fast!) the floor. The entire process takes around five weeks and, since they started on April 19, should be completed around May 24.

Certainly, it's a little strange to see the floor stripped of its finish and without the familiar purple and white paint. Check out the photo to the right, taken by UW communications assistant Jeremy Cothran.

In the meantime, Washington's men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams are conducting off-season workouts, practices and pick-up games in the East Gym and Marv Harshan Court, which are adjacent to the arena - just off the concourse areas.

2009 alums Jill Collymore and Tamari Miyashiro have completed the latest training block with Team USA down in Anaheim, Calif. and are in the middle of a brief break before the next period resumes. The U.S. Women's National Team ended its second winter training block on April 9 with a total of 16 players including the Husky duo.

The next training period begins April 26, though the roster has not been announced yet. Once they begin, fans could check out the workouts at the USA National Team Center located within the American Sports Centers in Anaheim.

UW volleyball sophomore Bianca Rowland and women's soccer signee Lindsey Bos were listed as two of the four finalists for the annual women's award, which was given to world champion tae-kwondo athlete Danielle Pelham from Everett.

Rowland (Lynnwood, Wash.) played in 30 matches last seson and set a new UW school record for hitting percentage, which led the Pac-10 and ranked third nationally. She also led the team in blocks and was a second-team All-America by Volleyball Magazine.

Bos, a native of Snohomish, Wash., led Archbishop Murphy to an undefeated soccer season and was the state Class 2A player of the year. She finished the season with 15 goals and 23 assists and is one of a talented class of incoming freshmen for the UW women's soccer program.

If you've got a hankering for some Husky volleyball action, and just so happen to be in Puerto Rico, well then you're in luck, as three former UW standouts are currently reunited on the Catano de Lancheras professional team in the Puerto Rico Superliga.

For the past several months, 2009 grad Airial Salvo has teamed up with former Honda Award winner Courtney Thompson, both leading Catano to the playoffs. The duo then became a certified Dawg Pack when 2007 alum and four-time All-American Christal Morrison was traded to the Lancheras.

Here are some more details on the team's playoff run from USAVolleyball.org:

"Setter Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.) and outside hitter Airial Salvo (Farmington, Utah), both members of the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team and products of University of Washington, are playing for Catano de Lancheras of the Puerto Rico Superliga. Prior to the playoffs starting, Catano added another Washington Husky in Christal Morrison. With second place already wrapped up, Catano dropped a 20-25, 25-17, 16-25, 25-22, 17-15 match to Bayamon in its final match of the regular season. Salvo was credited with 19 kills, a block and ace for 21 points to go with 19 digs for a double-double. Thompson added 12 assists and two blocks in the five-set loss. Catano ended the regular season with a 16-6 overall record. As the second overall seed, Catano opened the playoff with a 25-12, 25-23, 25-21 victory over Bayamon on April 13. Morrison and Salvo had 17 and 16 points, respectively. Thompson was credited with eight assists and seven digs. Catano is in quarterfinal round Pool B with No. 3 seed Mayaguez, No. 6 seed Carolina and No. 7 seed Bayamon."

If you haven't been around Husky Stadium since the Dawgs knocked off Cal 42-10 to end the season, you haven't had a chance to see the massive construction project taking place in what, for years, was the E-11, E-17 and E-12 parking lots on the south side of the stadium. (Click on the photos to see larger versions)

Every season ticket holder and Tyee Club member has received information through the mail, email, internet and, in many cases, by telephone regarding the significant impact the voter-approved Sound Transit project will have on Husky athletics for the next six years.

The Reader's Digest version (for you younger generation folks, this means "condensed") is: A six acre construction zone for the next six years has eliminated approximately 600 spaces in parking lots E11, E12 and E17. The project to build a UW Sound Transit Station for light rail was approved by King County voters and has caused some major changes in the way the UW handles parking for major events on campus - most notably Husky football games.

With an upheaval in parking assignments, the athletic department is looking to help alleviate some of the inconvenience with an expansion of its popular free Metro bus transportation system throughout the Puget Sound (a roughly $600,000 annual expense to UW athletics) and the addition of buses, carts and vans to shuttle fans to and from the stadium to the various parking lots.

The voter-approved Sound Transit project to construct a light rail station outside Husky Stadium jumped quickly into its first phase recently. A quick look at the E-11 and E-12 parking lots just to the South of Husky Stadium shows a flurry of construction activity. (Click on the photo to the right for a larger version).

The latest issue of Volleyball Magazine is of particular interest to Husky fans. Departing senior Tamari Miyashiro was named a First Team All-American, and is the only defensive specialist on the 12-woman team.

Also just a couple pages later, both Husky assistant coaches, Leslie Tuiasosopo and Jose Gandara, are profiled in a feature on 10 of the top assistants in the country.

"I feel my job is to help these players become great volleyball players, and become the best people they can be in life. That's kind of who I am, and why I do what I do," says Tuiasosopo in the feature.

With the demise of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer last winter, many wondered about the future of the annual Sports Star of the Year Awards. After all, the event had been around since former P-I sports editor Royal Brougham started the awards in 1935.

However, the Sports Star of the Year Awards are alive and well and now is in its 75th year.

The Seattle Sports Commission and Seattle Children's Hospital have teamed up to continue the awards, which will take place on Jan. 19 at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle.

Washington is trying to keep warm in frigid Fort Collins in anticipation of tonight's NCAA Second Round match against the Colorado State Rams. Temperatures in town today did rise near the freezing point after dropping into the teens and single digits much of the past two days.

The Huskies will try to turn up the heat on the Rams at CSU's Moby Arena tonight at 7 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. Pacific. A live stream will be available on Colorado State's website here.

Washington had a light practice this afternoon, concentrating on serving and passing drills. Coach McLaughlin has had the Huskies working all week on adjusting their service aim to factor in the high altitude in Colorado. The Dawgs served up four aces and nine errors last night, but the later match between CSU and Middle Tennessee was filled with service miscues by both teams, and tough serving will be a big key tonight for UW's success.

Lunch was picked up at Panera, and Washington also had two film sessions today focusing on the Rams in one of the hotel conference rooms. The team will load up the bus and head back to Moby Arena around 5:30 p.m. local time. Hopefully Eaton, Colorado native Kindra Carlson's big contingent of fans will once again help offset Colorado State's home court edge!

Today's Seattle Times features a profile on senior outside hitter Jill Collymore. At this point most Husky fans are certainly familiar with her wide array of talents, but today's feature has some insightful thoughts from Jill on her current role and how she deals with ceding some playing time to one of her best friends, Becky Perry.

Here's a brief excerpt:

"You're giving it everything you have, so when you don't get to the place you want to be it's natural to feel crushed, especially after such a long time. But if you're giving your all, you have to be satisfied with that while still working toward the ultimate goal."

Said Washington coach Jim McLaughlin: "She works so hard. She just has to let her thoughts serve her well to make the right choices in every situation."

Not sure what your holiday weekend plans entail -- outside of Black Friday shopping and leftover turkey sandwiches -- but for those with an empty calendar there is plenty going on with athletics at the University of Washington.

Starting tonight, the No. 4 ranked volleyball team is in action against Oregon State at Bank of America Arena. The team is chasing a Pac-10 title and are closer to finding out their postseason destination.

On Friday, the Washington women's basketball team is hosting their annual Husky Classic at Bank of America. They'll play games against a pair of Big Sky schools in Eastern Washington and Sacramento State; same with the University of Memphis. First tip gets underway at 12 p.m., with the Hornets and Tigers. The Huskies and Eagles (who are separated by just 266 miles), will follow 20 minutes after the first game.

And then later that night, volleyball is back on the court for a matchup with No. 18 Oregon.

Of course, we should not have to remind you what's happening on Saturday at Husky Stadium. Washington's football team will take part in the 102nd Apple Cup. Come early, be loud and support the Huskies against their rivals from Pullman. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.

On Sunday, come on back to Bank of America for a triple-header of basketball. The Husky Classic will wrap up with a preliminary game between EWU and Memphis, and then the Huskies will play Sac. State to cap the tournament. Then at 6 p.m., the men's basketball team will take on Montana.

To recap, that's two volleyball matches, a football game and three basketball games for us this week...whew.

A couple of facts that were not widely reported included the graduation success rate (GSR) among football programs in the Pac-10. Among scholarship athletes, the Huskies rate second in the league in both graduation success rate and the four-year rolling federal graduation rate average. Below is a chart showing how the UW fares against league rivals.

School

GSR

Fed Rate

Stanford

89

85

Washington

69

61

California

64

57

Washington State

62

58

Arizona State

58

49

USC

58

52

Oregon State

57

43

UCLA

51

40

Oregon

49

45

Arizona

41

35

A couple of other key facts that the report revealed about the academic success of various UW sports programs:

? The graduation rate for UW scholarship student-athletes who exhausted their eligibility at the school during this reporting period was an impressive 90 percent. A total of 503 student-athletes fit into this category.? Six UW sports achieved a GSR of 100 percent: Men's golf, women's basketball, women's golf, women's soccer, softball and women's tennis.? 10 of the 18 sports calculated (men's crew is not a NCAA sport and track/cross country are counted as one sport. The discontinued swimming program is also included), achieved a GSR of 90 percent or better.

Perhaps the busiest Husky sports weekend possible takes place over the next three days with eight different Washington sports team heading into competition, including the men's and women's cross country teams at the NCAA Regionals and the women's soccer team in the opening rounds of the NCAA Championships.

For a complete calendar of events, just click on the front page of GoHuskies.com and select the "Calendar" tab to see a complete schedule. On that schedule, you will find links to all the live Internet-related coverage provided by GoHuskies.com.

UW flagship radio station 950 KJR AM will be in full Husky mode throughout the weekend and, in particular, all day Saturday. KJR will have live coverage of all three UW men's basketball games, including tonight's opener against Wright State. Tomorrow the station will jump start 14-straight hours of UW coverage at 8 a.m. and won't conclude until after the men's hoops post-game show that should end at around 10 p.m.

So, if Bob Rondeau seems a little out of sync this weekend - keep in mind he is planning to call the UW-Wright State basketball game tonight, travel to Corvallis to provide the action at the Washington-Oregon State football game tomorrow. Then, he will return to Bank of America Arena on Sunday for the Huskies' contest against Portland State. That's around 12 hours of solid play-by-play and analysis over the next three days.

Last Thursday after the Husky volleyball team wrapped up practice, many of the women suited up for the trip to Arizona, but went with their Halloween costumes instead of the usual team sweats.

Washington had an off-day on Halloween Saturday so costumes were a must, and the team decided to spice up the airport trip by taking their digs for a test drive. Below, Kindra Carlson looks ready for the sock hop and Airial Salvo is the queen of hearts. Freshmen Kelly Holford and Jenna Orlandini are matching penguins, while Bianca Rowland is Superman (or woman, or middle blocker) and Kandiss Anderson goes old school.

The first showing will be a little early, 1:30 a.m. to be precise, so set those DVRs if you want to watch the match when you wake up Sunday. The next showing will be at 3:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

The first meeting between the teams went five sets down in Palo Alto, and Washington will be looking to turn the tables this time and net a victory that would open up a two-game Pac-10 lead over the three-time defendind champs. The match starts at 7 p.m. at Bank of America Arena on Friday.

Recently, Washington Husky athletic department officials and student-athletes showed their appreciation to its scholarship donors at its annual luncheon in the Don James Center. Husky student-athletes Victor Aiyewa and Danielle Lawrie presented thanks to the benefactors on behalf of all of the UW's scholarship student-athletes.

Women's soccer coach Lesle Gallimore gave a passionate speech that outlined the tremendous responsibility each coach accepts as they makes decisions on who and when to award athletic scholarships.

"As a coach I am entrusted with the task of awarding scholarships to young women whom my staff and I determine are worthy of your generosity," said Gallimore. "This is a responsibility that I do not take lightly. I have done nothing for the dollars that I am doling out. It is not my hard work that has made these scholarships possible and yet it is my duty to select people that will live up to their commitment of striving for athletic and academic excellence.

A handful of Husky athletes and coaches have been featured on the new Husky bus - a Gray Line coach which was recently wrapped in purple and gold for team travel.

Women's soccer star Kate Deines joined National Softball Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie and men's basketball head coach Lorenzo Romar on one side of the bus while the other side features cross country head coach Greg Metcalf along with quarterback Jake Locker and volleyball star Jill Collymore. The men's rowing team is featured on the back of the bus.

Despite not having a Washington Husky football game, there are still a ton of athletics-related activities taking place this week.

? The Husky men's soccer team hosts Cal in a huge Pac-10 game Friday night at 7 p.m. The Dawgs defeated the Bears 2-0 in Berkeley a couple of weeks ago, knocking Cal from its No. 4 national ranking! A special promotion provides 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs and 4 sodas for just $25. Call (206) 543-2200 for information.

? The Husky Ticket Office reports that approximately 64,000 tickets have been sold for the Nov. 28 Apple Cup game between rivals Washington and Washington State. Tickets are available by calling (206) 543-2200 or through GoHuskies.com.

? Huskies All-Access is scheduled for eight airings on FSN Northwest this week, starting with Wednesday's debut at 7 p.m. The show will also feature at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. that night, 12:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Thursday and at 12:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Friday.

? The nationally-ranked men's and women's cross country teams are participating in the Pac-10 Championships Saturday in Long Beach, Calif. The No. 1 ranked women will be looking to win its second-straight title while the 13th ranked men are the third-highest ranked team in the league behind No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Oregon. Check out GoHuskies.com for complete coverage.

? The UW men's and women's golf teams are in action today. The men are making a late run at the Isleworth Invitational, while the women are in the hunt at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.

? Women's soccer is on the road at Oregon Friday night, while the volleyball team is playing at Arizona. Live coverage of those events is available on GoHuskies.com.

The Husky volleyball squad is featured on the latest episode of Runnin' With The Pac, which was on campus last week. Head coach Jim McLaughlin sat down for the cameras as did seniors Tamari Miyashiro and Airial Salvo to talk about the intense competition among the players themselves and the lofty goals the women are aspiring to.

The piece also includes some behind-the-scenes clips that the team shot over the past weekend before facing the L.A. schools.

The segment occurs early on in the episode following a feature on UW quarterback Jake Locker.

There will be several chances to check out the piece on Friday. Runnin' With The Pac airs Friday on FSN Northwest at 2:30 p.m., 5:00 and 5:30 p.m., and finally at 9:30 p.m. Pacific.

Husky fans be sure to be glued to your TV sets with the volume cranked up to 11 tonight as senior Jill Collymore will be featured on the Q13 News sportscast, showing off some of her wonderful talents on the piano.

Collymore and Q13 sports anchor Aaron Levine headed up to a practice room in the Music Building on the UW campus last week and Jill laid down several beautiful excerpts, by memory no less, of some her favorite classical pieces. Levine and Collymore then talked about her history with music and ways the discipline can carry over to the volleyball court.

The Q13 News broadcast runs from 10-11 p.m. tonight on Channel 13, but if you've got an early bedtime, the broadcast is also carried on Channel 10 in the Seattle area from 9-10 p.m. Expect the Collymore feature to be around the last 10 minutes of each airing.

After the episode is aired, we will try to provide a link to the clip online as well.

Everett Herald reporter Scott Johnson wrote a great feature story about the Tuiasosopo family this weekend, focusing on sisters Leslie and Ashley and brother Marques, who are all currently playing or working at UW at the same time. Leslie is currently the assistant coach for the No. 4 volleyball team while Ashley is an outfielder for the defending national champion softball team. Marques recently joined his siblings as a strength and conditioning coach with the football team.

Astute viewers of the CBS primetime drama NCIS may have noticed the signature phrase of this very website uttered during last night's season premiere. In the seventh season premiere, titled "Truth or Consequences" a new police officer named Heather Kincaid, played by Mercedes Masohn, stopped in for a job interview and had quite the interesting backstory.

Click here to view the episode, and drag the marker to about 25:40 to check out the UW shout-out.

Washington finished up play at the UTSA Classic in San Antonio back on Friday, but the host Roadrunners still had a match to play against Middle Tennessee State on Saturday, so the All-Tournament Team was not named until that point.

The Huskies swept both opponents to take the tournament title, and were thusly rewarded with three of the six players named to the team. Junior Becky Perry was chosen tournament MVP, as she led UW in kills in each match with 12 against UTSA and 13 against MTSU, while hitting .467 for the weekend and providing seven blocks.

Senior Tamari Miyashiro was also named to the team. The defensive stalwart had 33 digs over the weekend and passed the 2,000 career digs mark, becoming the second Husky ever to do so.

Also earning All-Tournament honors was senior Jill Collymore. She had 15 kills and five aces over the two matches and was the catalyst behind an amazing 15-point run that Washington put on Middle Tennessee State in the final set on Friday. Collymore's divebombing serve took the Huskies from 8-5 to 23-5 in the set which they went on to win 25-7, tying the record-low score for a UW opponent in the rally scoring era.

Rounding out the All-Touranment Team was Leslie Clark and Ashley Mead of MTSU, and Amber Brooks of UTSA.

Washington's dominant effort at the Tampa Twice Tournament last weekend attracted the attention of ESPN.com, which currently has a feature on the Dawgs up as the lead on its College Sports page.

The feature looks at how the Huskies have bounced back from their two-point loss in the NCAA Quarterfinals last year and positioned themselves as legitimate contenders this season following the sweeps of No. 9 Minnesota and No. 4 Florida in Tampa.

Here is a brief excerpt...

Miyashiro, one of the two players with the program when UW won its first national title in 2005, and Hagglund, who earned All-America honors for the first time in 2008, are keys to the Huskies' success.

Together, they ignite an offense that has been almost perfectly balanced and virtually unstoppable. The Huskies have four players averaging more than two kills per set, led by fifth-year senior outside hitter Jill Collymore at 3.29, and are fourth in the nation with a .325 team hitting percentage.

"I think I've got the best offensive arsenal in the country at my disposal," Hagglund said. "All of our hitters are great weapons and it makes it hard for our opponents to defend us. And with our passing, it makes it a lot easier for me."

With the season's first serve just 24 hours away, the Husky volleyball team has been picking up some well-deserved media attention.

ESPN.com examined five storylines from the upcoming season, and included the Huskies as one of the top threats to unseat two-time defending champion Penn State. Check out the national point of view here.

The Seattle Times ran their season preview this afternoon, with head coach Jim McLaughlin hoping to get to the top of Mount Rainier. Times Preview

While the thousands of fans that attend each Husky match can hardly be labeled "obscurity", Seth Kolloen of seattlest.com does have a nice take on how the media can tend to overlook some of the top athletes at UW. Read his piece here.

Husky freshman Kylin Mu?±oz, a native of Snohomish, Wash., is featured today in the Everett Herald. Last year's Gatorade State Player of the Year talks about her decision to back out of a commitment to BYU and stick closer to home.

Another Husky volleyball alum is finding success as a professional, as 2006 letterwinner Janine Sandell just signed on to compete with Valeriano Allès Menorca located on the island of Menorca.

Here is an excerpt from the club's website, helpfully translated from Spanish by a GoHuskies.com student assistant:

"The club director was able to come to an agreement with the British player, who played the previous season with CV Albacete. Sandell is a player the team courted, but the signing was stalled because of the economic situation. But the force of both parties made it possible for Sandall to play with Valeriano and coach Adrià Fiorenza.

Sandell is an outside hitter with a lot of potential and the team says she is in great shape. She is only 23 years old and 5-9. She was the fourth best scorer on the Superliga last year, with 342 points, with an average of 4.12 points per set and between 12 and 20 points per game. Even though she is British, she studied in the United States (at Santa Barbara and Washington).

She debuted with the British National Team on July 17, and she has 42 national appearances. The same summer she challenged for the European League title with her national team. The season prior, she took CV Albacete to the Final Four of the Challenge Cup."

Sandell joined UW for one season after leaving UC Santa Barbara. She helped the Huskies reach the Final Four, averaging 2.14 kills per game with a .250 hitting percentage in 109 games.

Courtney Thompson and her Team USA teammates lost their FIVB World Grand Prix Pool A opening match today against Germany by a 3-0 count.

Thompson, a 2006 UW grad, came off the bench in the second set with the Americans trailing and then started the final set but Team USA was unable to turn things around against the Germans, falling 25-15, 25-15, 25-16. Thompson wound up leading the team in set attempts with 39 and had the second-most digs on the team with seven. Assist totals were not included in post-match results.

The Americans will look to get their first win tomorrow against Puerto Rico. That match will be at 9 a.m. PT and fans can watch live online here.

Seattle Pacific just announced that former Husky hoops player Grant Leep has been hired as an assistant coach. Leep spent the previous two seasons as an assistant at Eastern Washington.

Leep played for the Huskies from 1999-2002. He was a freshman on the 1999 team that played in the NCAA Tournament.

He began his coaching career in 2002-03 with a one-year stint as an assistant at North Seattle Community College and then spend two years as an assistant under former Husky assistant coach Eric Hughes at Spokane Community College.

Leep's wife is the former Allison Richardson, a standout volleyball player for the Huskies.